


Let's go to an onsen!

by closetnightmares



Category: Haikyuu!!
Genre: All The Ships, Awkward Flirting, Basically a huge coming out story for everyone, Daichi and Suga are basically retired, Ennoshita and Tanaka are parenting now, Ennoshita worries a lot, Everyone Is Gay, Hands down the fluffiest thing I've ever written, Homoerotic volleyball montage, Hot Springs & Onsen, I included rarepairs yes, Karasuno, M/M, No Angst??, No Smut, Okay it starts out kinda sad but I swear it's not, Post-Nationals, Tanaka is an adrenaline junkie, This is rare for me, Tooth-Rotting Fluff, Ukai and Takeda are caring for their twelve crow children, Unresolved Sexual Tension, Vacation? More like Gaycation, Volleyball Dorks in Love, Volleygays, lighthearted fluff, multi ship, not a oneshot, not even kidding, team vacation, this was supposed to be a oneshot
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-08-20
Updated: 2018-10-07
Packaged: 2019-06-27 22:42:50
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 5
Words: 13,887
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15694830
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/closetnightmares/pseuds/closetnightmares
Summary: As a reward for winning nationals, Coach Ukai calls in a favor and gets Karasuno exclusive access to a nearby onsen! Everyone is thrilled to finally be getting some peace and quiet, but with this break comes an intense wave of suppressed feelings on many fronts. And things start getting a little tense.What started as a two-day all-inclusive team vacation quickly becomes something a lot more…personal for all of them.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

  * For [The_Peaches_Pits](https://archiveofourown.org/users/The_Peaches_Pits/gifts).



> This one's for you, Peach. Thanks for always putting up with my hyperactive spastic reactions over these boys, I finally have something to show for it!! Hopefully this story makes you smile.
> 
> Okay y'all, if you've ever read anything of mine then you know. Lighthearted stories aren't normally my thing. So I thought it might be nice to try something like this out! This is in no way supposed to be a serious entry. It's just a oneshot-turned-multichapter-madness that I hope is as fun to read as it was to write and tag.
> 
> Please enjoy this complete mess of an adventure!

The season was over. Volleyball was…over. And they had come out victorious—meaning the rebirth of the Crows of Karasuno was all over the news. Everyone wanted their story, to vicariously relive the moment that the ball dropped on the opposing team’s court for the last time. The point that finalized the third set at 28-26, a decisive victory after a tiring deuce.

It had brought the entire team closer as they dog piled onto Asahi, who had just scored the winning point, leaving them in a teary-eyed heap in the middle of the court. After, they said their thanks, did cool downs, held a brief team meeting that consisted almost entirely of everyone bawling their eyes out, ate dinner, and then piled back onto the train to get home.

They hadn’t even spared a moment for their unfinished business. To deal with the elephant in the room.

So that was why the entire team was now assembled in Karasuno’s gym, at 10am, when school wasn’t even in session, awaiting the inevitable announcement of the third years graduation. The ceremonial handing over of the team.

It was that time of year, after all.

Coach Ukai cleared his throat. “Well, this is it boys. You’ve done well. Number one in the nation is something to be very proud of,” Ukai said decisively, nodding.

Everyone gave a loud yell of approval.

Ukai continued, “And this has normally been a sad day in Karasuno history, and I’m sure you all already know why.”

Daichi sidled up closer to Suga, gripping his hand so tensely that both their knuckles were nearly white. Nishinoya had a hand clamped down on Asahi’s shoulder and his grip tightened at Ukai’s words. Heartbeat quickening, Ennoshita clenched his jaw, flinching when Tanaka nudged his thigh with a knee, giving him a reassuring smile.

“We need to deal with it. I’m not going to sugarcoat it either. You all have grown up together and you’re like family to one another, but that’s going to change. Sawamura, Sugawara, and Azumane, will be leaving the team after today.”

The tension in the room skyrocketed.

“So, with that said, you all know from Daichi’s announcement before we left that Ennoshita is this year’s new captain and Tanaka will be his vice.”

A round of applause shook the air, but it lacked any real emphasis. Like it was more out of formality than anything.

Ennoshita gulped and smiled at the attention while Tanaka shook his shoulder with a giddy grin. Nishinoya threw them a thumbs up from his place at Asahi’s shaking side. Kinoshita and Narita immediately scooted over to Ennoshita’s side so they could ruffle his hair and slap his back, both smiling ear to ear with pride.

The first years, Hinata and Yamaguchi especially, were also there to congratulate him with excited yelling.

“Phew!” Ukai mock wiped at his forehead. “Glad that’s out of the way. Now I can get on to the good news.”

Twelve pairs of expectant gazes snapped to observe their coach. Good…news? Was he trying to boost their mood? Make light of the current situation? Ukai hadn’t mentioned any news at all in the last week, good or bad. Nothing that they didn’t already know, anyway.

Under the intensity of the attention, Ukai grinned. “So, I’ve been thinking we could start a new tradition to help us all wind down a bit. I was going to wait until I had the confirmation from the dean, but there’s no time like the present. I’ve got some exciting news for you all. You’ve all been invited to spend this weekend at the nearby onsen! Since normally, we’d spend weekends training, it shouldn’t be an issue for us to go.”

The gym fell into a shocked silence as Ukai’s words faded into silence.

Those twelve pairs of eyes suddenly turned to one another. Hinata turned to look at Kageyama, shocked to find the setter’s eyes were wide as well. And upon looking about the room, he realized that everyone else was the same.

Nobody even blinked. It was like being put in critical condition and then told that you’d won the lottery. Sure, the news was good but the timing probably couldn’t have been worse.

Ukai seemed to realize his grave error and leapt to reclaim the situation. “Ah, maybe it was too early to bring up something like this—“

Just then, the gym door flew open revealing a very out of breath Takeda, bent over and gripping his knees. “Ukai…kun...I have…news…!”

The group merely blinked at his entrance, still in shock.

Ukai was first to offer any verbalization. “A-Are you okay Sensei?”

“I’m fine!” Takeda lurched upward and kicked off his shoes, straightening his glasses as he staggered inside. “The dean said yes! We can go!”

“O-Oh,” Ukai rubbed his neck sheepishly. “That’s…great. Um, we may just want to forget—“

Without warning, a shrill cry erupted from a team member. Slicing right through Ukai’s words.

“ _Coach_!”

The room froze at the outburst, until they all turned to see Daichi looking like he was ready to burst. With wide eyes burning with purpose and quivering lips. The picture of driven determination.

“S-Sawamura?” Ukai stammered, still reeling from the yell.

At the recognition, Daichi stood up, face contorted into a painful expression, with rigid shoulders and clenched fists. “Just because Suga, Asahi, and I are leaving is no excuse for you all to get upset! Going on this trip would be good for everyone, it’ll help to solidify the team you will have in the future! And—“ he paused, dropping his shoulders and releasing his fists, the energy seeming to be draining from his body before their eyes—“it would be something fun for all of us to do together one last time.”

Suga then got to his feet at Daichi’s side. “I agree. You guys have earned a break. So let’s not be sad over it anymore, okay?” He gave them a bright smile.

Asahi also stood, dragging Nishinoya up with him by default. “Me too! Let’s all go and have a good time.”

There was a moment of hesitation before Ennoshita got up, and Tanaka was quick to follow, both smirking. Kinoshita and Narita were next, then Hinata, Kageyama, and Yamaguchi. Tsukishima was the only one still sitting. After a quiet prompting from Yamaguchi, he clicked his tongue and picked himself up.

“Great. Now we’re all standing. You happy?”

Apparently he said it louder than intended because everyone began laughing at the sarcastic quip. Tsukishima flinched and Yamaguchi elbowed him in the side, chuckling. And now, any tears shed were from humor, not sadness.

The mood had been changed for the better.

Suga turned to Daichi, his laughter fading. “You’re still as bold and overdramatic as ever,” he said, nudging the ex-captain’s shoulder. They were standing just off the edge of the flash mob that had started, with the rowdiest individuals in the middle absolutely screeching with excitement.

That wisecrack earned the setter a nudge in return. “Oh, like _you’re_ one to talk,” Daichi answered with a hint of danger.

“Daichi!” Suga gasped and feigned deep offense. “I couldn’t _possibly_ know what you’re talking about!”

Daichi smirked and lifted an eyebrow. “Still can’t believe we’re rooming together.” He bit his lip, eyes half lidded as he whispered, “Is that lucky, or what?”

“Shut up before someone hears you,” Suga hissed back, but the words held no malice. Daichi could tell that he was glad too.

Hinata, Tanaka, and Noya had started fist pumping in a circle as they chanted, “On-sen! On-sen! On-sen!” While Kageyama did some kind of strange interpretive dance next to them.

Yamaguchi chuckled at his friends’ antics as he turned to their tallest player. “Admit it, Tsukki. You’ll miss this.”

The usual, “Shut up, Yamaguchi,” that came in reply sounded ever so slightly choked up, which made the pinch setter grin. He knew Tsukishima better than anyone.

After the celebration had subsided somewhat, Ukai clapped to gain everyone’s attention.

“Alright alright kids, listen up. I don’t have much time to give you the details before we need to be outta here. The girls team wants to use the gym every night this week. So let’s see here—ah!” Ukai flipped through the notes on his clipboard. “Okay. Sensei and I have taken care of most of the legwork so I’m just relaying that. We’ll take our bus and leave from here at 6pm, since I know you all have family commitments, and we’ll arrive in about an hour. Oh! And we took care of asking your families for you.”

He flipped to the next page. “Ah, rooms are limited to two occupants, so, to keep things easy—” Ukai looked up at them—“we made room assignments based on jersey numbers.” He coach cleared his throat. “So first we'll have Sugawara and Sawamura, Azumane and Nishinoya, Tanaka and Ennoshita, Kinoshita and Narita, Hinata and Kageyama, and Tsukishima and Yamaguchi. All meals and amenities are provided at the resort. Just bring yourselves and the overnight essentials. Any questions?”

Nobody moved. Then a hand went up. Ennoshita’s.

He rubbed his neck awkwardly when Ukai nodded to him. “Sorry, you just said 6pm, but what day are we leaving?”

Ukai seemed slightly confused. “Today.” At the confused blinks he received, Ukai tried to backtrack. “Oh, did I not mention that? My bad.”

The force of the realization shook the entire team hard and the gym erupted into a chorus of surprised exclamations. Nishinoya and Tanaka were shaking one another to death, mouths open and babbling incoherent words, the third years were floored, Hinata had started screaming at Kageyama, who now had a death grip on his scalp, and Tsukishima and Yamaguchi just stared.

Ennoshita’s mouth was totally dry and it took him a moment to squeak out, “T-Today?!”

“Yep!” Ukai nodded with no small amount of glee and put a hand on his hip. “And—oi! Quiet down already! It’s, let’s see, almost noon, so you boys all have plenty of time to get home and back. We’ll be gone for the whole weekend, like I said.”

Nishinoya’s hand flew up, but he didn’t wait to be called on. “Coach! Will Shimizu-san and Yachi-san be there?” The question earned him a raised eyebrow from Asahi and a thumbs up from Tanaka, which was quickly slapped down by a frowning Ennoshita.

Ukai sighed. “Yes, they’ll be meeting us there tomorrow. Anything else?”

Silence.

Takeda finally stepped up to stand next to Ukai, smirking as he folded his arms. “Good. Then you all best run home to pack.”

Pandemonium erupted as all twelve team members scrambled to get out the same doorway, all attempting to yell their goodbyes and thanks at the same time. But it ended up sounding more like a fight.

“Asahi I can’t see!”

“S-Sorry…”

“Yamaguchi stop pushing me.”

“Tanaka get the hell outta my way, I have to go!”

“Oi! Ennoshita, you said we’d walk together—wait up you jerk!”

“Roooolllinggg Thuunnnderrr!”

“Ouch, Nishinoya! That’s my kneecap!”

“Kageyamaaaa your elbow is in my face!”

“Then stop running into it dumbass!”

"Why don't you just—ugwah! Ow, ow, ow!"

After the chaotic mass had funneled out the doorway and had now started arguing about getting into the club room, Ukai and Takeda just looked at one another blankly before they broke into a fit of laughter.

This was going to be interesting.


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter's fun. No angst this time, I swear. A lot of sexual innuendos and hinting, oops. I maybe went a little overboard with Tanaka's methods of damage control, but I think it's really funny anyway.
> 
> Enjoy some bus ride shenanigans!

By the time the group returned back to the Karasuno parking lot at 6pm sharp, each lugging a duffel bag of essentials for the trip, the sun had started to dip toward the horizon. And the crisp March air was rapidly cooling to what could be considering chilly. It was the perfect weather for going to an onsen, since cold air always made the hot water all the more worth it.

Most of the boys were bundled up in jackets and scarves. Tsukishima even had mittens on—Yamaguchi had forced him to wear them. Nobody really knew why but they never questioned it either. It wasn’t their business. Hinata looked like a marshmallow with all his layers and Kageyama was making fun of him. Nishinoya and Tanaka were laughing. Daichi and Suga were boarding.

By default, they had all lined up in number order, from lowest to highest. Even when volleyball had absolutely nothing to do with the task at hand, old habits died hard.

“Oi! Let’s get a move on,” Ukai called from inside, honking the horn for effect.

The squabbling group jumped a bit at the prompting. It took a bit of pushing from the offenders’ respective parental influences (especially Ennoshita and Daichi) before they did as they were told.

Boarding was reasonably seamless. Daichi and Suga took the first seat, Tanaka and Ennoshita sat in the next, then came Asahi and Nishinoya, Hinata and Kageyama, Tsukishima and Yamaguchi, and Kinoshita and Narita in the very back. It wasn’t their usual lineup of seats, but for some reason this was how it had ended up. Recently, this seating arrangement had just become…normal.

Ukai had always marveled at the way the group paired off so effortlessly. It hadn’t always been this way, but nationals seemed to convince them of just how quickly the clock was ticking down on this blissful reality they had created. And, he had to admit, it was _extremely_ satisfying to look back and see the six pairs organized so nicely. Regardless of their motives.

For convenience’s sake, everyone’s bags had been piled onto the left side of the bus where the single seats were, since it was pointless to open the undercarriage compartment for just their overnight bags. Or at least that’s what they had all convinced themselves. Laziness had won out on this particular trip.

The air was thick with excitement, if the continued exclamations from their younger members were anything to go by. Hinata, Nishinoya, and Tanaka were all red-faced and quickly running out of breath to even scream.

Suddenly, Daichi stood up and clapped loudly. “Attention please!”

The bus fell silent.

“The travel time is one hour. And the road is rough. So stay seated and behave.”

“Yes, Daichi!” Everyone chorused as the bus started moving.

He winced at the fact they no longer referred to him as captain. Breathlessly, he slid back into his seat, a strange emptiness manifesting in his gut. This would take some getting used to. Suga patted his arm reassuringly. There was no one who knew better than Karasuno’s ex vice captain of the identity crisis that Daichi was experiencing.

“You did good, Dai,” Suga offered.

Daichi huffed. “Sometimes I wonder.”

“Just leave the parenting to Ennoshita from now on,” the setter added gleefully. “This is practically retirement for us.”

“Retirement?!” Daichi slapped his forehead in mock incredulity. “God, we’re too young for that.”

“Pfft. You take everything so literally. Loosen up,” Suga commanded, this time punching Daichi’s arm. “This’ll be good for you.”

Daichi rolled his eyes. Normally he’d fire back some comment about being loose already, or make some joke about Suga being _too_ loose, but he couldn’t find the energy for either. So he settled for honesty. “I’m not good at relaxing with the team, Suga. You know that.”

“Yes. I do know that,” Suga fired back with a nod and Daichi instinctively winced, expecting another jab. But Suga only moved closer so that their sides were pressed flush to one another and took hold of Daichi’s right hand. His voice was soft when he finally spoke. “They aren’t our team anymore, Dai. They’re our friends. So for the next two days, you—“ Suga leaned close—“ are going to _relax_ ,” he finished, their faces inches apart.

Daichi tried hard to not let his smile show. “Oh? And are you going to take personal responsibility for that?”

“Daichi! It’s not like we’re actually going to be alone there,” Suga breathed back, gaze filled with mischief.

His roommate shrugged. “We do have a room to ourselves—“

“And the walls are, like—” Suga gestured emphatically— “paper thin!”

“So?”

Suga pulled back, eyes wide. He put on arm up onto his seat so that his upper body faced fully toward Daichi. A smile tugged at his lips. “Ehhh. This is rare. Usually I’m the one who’s trying to convince you.”

“Well,” Daichi shot back with a shrug as his hand ghosted over to Suga’s thigh, “we don’t exactly have access to the club room anymore, so I mean…”

Suga smacked his hand, but it was obvious that he was enjoying this. “You little—“

“You know you like it.”

“ _Daichi_!”

Thankfully, no one had heard that comment—Suga had swiveled his head around to check—but that didn’t stop the ashen haired setter from jabbing the ex captain in the side roughly in retaliation. Daichi just laughed as he rubbed the place of impact, and Suga turned away to pout, cheeks dusted with pink. Everyone else was far too absorbed in their own conversations to be worrying about what was going on up front.

A few seats back, Hinata finally turned to Kageyama after tiring of looking out the window. “Hey, hey, Kageyama! What did you bring in your bag?”

“Clothes,” the setter deadpanned.

“Eh? Just clothes?” Hinata flopped back into his seat, staring up at the ceiling. “I’m kinda surprised.”

Kageyama sighed. “Almost everything is provided for us at these kinds of places. There’s no need to bring other things.”

Hinata sat back up, pursing his lips defensively. “W-Well, that might be true but—“

“What the hell else did you bring?” Kageyama paralyzed him with an icy stare.

Hinata raised his hands placatingly, flailing them around. “N-Nothing much, j-just a volleyball!”

There was a pause. The setter stared at the spiker, and the spiker stared right back, beginning to sweat under the pressure with his hands still up.

Eyes dark, Kageyama finally spoke. “…Seriously?”

“Wh-what!” Hinata put his hands out farther, fear coursing through his veins. “Don’t get mad!”

“I’m not mad,” Kageyama answered in a rather level tone. Hinata actually felt the sincerity of his statement and dropped his arms, cocking his head. It was rare to see Kageyama being stable like this. The spiker almost thought for a moment that he looked better when he wasn’t frowning all the time. But Kageyama wasn’t done talking.

“That was…” he murmured, making Hinata lean in closer to hear as he had practically lip-read that statement. But the setter then turned away to finish with, “Nice of you.”

Hinata nodded without thinking. “Oh, okay, good.” But then the words sunk in and he suddenly snapped back up, eyes wide. Nice?! The bus suddenly felt far too warm. And he responded on instinct. “Eh?! Y-y-you sure you’re not mad?”

“Oi!” Kageyama’s textbook scowl returned as he leered down at Hinata. “The fuck makes you think that—“

Gulping, Hinata raised an accusatory finger to point at him and cried, “I knew it! You _are_ pissed!”

“Hah?! Hinata you idiot—“

“Oh _god_.”

Hinata and Kageyama sat up and turned around to see who had made the remark, only to find Tsukishima glaring from the seat directly behind them.

He scoffed and laid back, folding his arms. “If it’s going to be an hour of this, I swear I’ll get off right now. I’d rather walk.”

Yamaguchi grinned from his seat next to the blond. “Come on, Tsukki. You think it’s funny.” He leaned over the seat to add, “Tsukki really does think it’s funny.”

“Shut up, Yamaguchi,” his seatmate snapped.

The pinch server giggled as Tsukishima pulled him back down by the hem of his shirt, hissing something about not listening. Yamaguchi gave a sweet, “Sorry, Tsukki” in reply.

Hinata groaned as he settled back into his seat. Restlessly, he wondered if they would be arriving soon. He hoped they would. The bus was nice, but it wasn’t the most comfortable thing ever. And with this winding road they were on, napping was nearly impossible unless on every turn he wanted to slam his head against either the window or Kageyama’s shoulder. Just the thought made him shiver with dread. Absently, he allowed his mind to wander and a rather pressing thought surfaced through the subconscious chatter.

He decided he just _had_ to tell Kageyama and started talking before he had fully turned, which was a mistake. “Hey. Don’t you think it’ll be weird to see everyone—“

The sight at his left made him freeze. Kageyama was sitting perfectly straight, head lolled back comfortably so that the edge of the seat pressed right into the curve of his neck, and his eyes were closed. Hinata hated how tall people could sleep comfortably like that. But that wasn’t even the strangest part. His mouth wasn’t turned downward like usual. It was most similar to the look that he had worn earlier when admitting Hinata’s forethought to bring a volleyball was nice. He’d seen Kageyama napping before on the way back from matches, but his expression had never been this carefree. It made him briefly wonder if maybe Kageyama was actually being sincere earlier. The conclusion made him feel strangely warm.

In his musings, he had failed to notice that Kageyama had opened an eye and was watching him intently.

“The hell’re you doing, dumbass?”

Hinata almost fell out of his seat as he met that icy gaze. The frown had returned. “K-Kageyama! I-I was, uh, I was j-just—“

“Geez Hinata,” the setter groaned as he closed his eye and tried to settle back down. “Can’t you just take a nap or something?”

“No, I’ve, uh, been thinking.”

His eye opened again. “Thinking?” Kageyama sounded genuinely curious.

“Just,” Hinata furrowed his eyebrows. “D-Don’t you think it’s going to be weird to see everyone…naked?”

Kageyama grunted as he pushed himself fully upright to look at Hinata, giving up on his hopes of napping. “We all bathe together all the time. We’ve seen each other naked so many times.”

“Yeah but still it’s different,” Hinata countered. “It wasn't…at an _onsen_.”

Perplexed, the setter tilted his head. “An onsen is literally just an outdoor bath. What’s different about it?”

“Oh just forget it,“ Hinata said with a hint of defeat as he turned to gaze out the window again. It was probably a stupid thing to ask anyway.

Kageyama was truly confused and chewed his lip. He tried again, voice significantly softer. “No really. What’s different about it?”

The shorter boy whirled on him like prey that had been cornered by a predator. “Huh? Y-You—what’s with that tone change!”

Eye twitching, Kageyama took a deep breath to remain level headed. “I want to know why you think it’ll be different.”

If Hinata lifted his eyebrows any higher they’d disappear into his hair. “You’re being really weird. It’s freaky.”

“Just tell me,” Kageyama demanded as nicely as possible.

The spiker rubbed his neck, cheeks and ears turning red. “Uh, well, I mean, it’s just more…i-i-intimate.”

Incredulously, Kageyama repeated, “Intimate?”

“Y-Yeah,” Hinata confirmed.

“How?”

“I-I’m not gonna explain it to you!”

“Why not?!” Kageyama snapped.

Hinata was fully red by this point. “B-Because that’s weird!”

Kageyama’s retaliation was interrupted by a loud cry of exasperation from the seat behind them. Tsukishima.

Yamaguchi quickly tended to him. “Ack! Tsukki what’s wrong!”

“I have a headache,” the blond answered, rubbing his temples.

“Don’t die, Tsukki!” Yamaguchi yelled, sounding genuinely concerned.

Tsukishima clicked his tongue. “Shut up.”

Huffing, Hinata went back to staring out the window. Tsukishima was still as insolent as ever, but his intervention actually wasn’t unwelcome this time. Hinata really didn’t feel like explaining to Kageyama of all people the difference between bathing as a team out of necessity and bathing together out of choice. And thankfully, the scenery outside was oddly calming, so it was making him forget the topic at hand almost immediately…

Kageyama, on the other hand, was still hung up on the conversation. “Oi. Hinata.”

“What,” Hinata answered blankly.

“Tell me.”

Hinata had half a mind to hit him. “Don’t wanna.”

“You _bastard_ —“

Little did the first years know, Nishinoya and Asahi had been listening to the entire exchange. For almost the whole ride they had been discussing Asahi’s post-graduation plans and the potential for him joining the neighborhood association. At least, that’s what Nishinoya wanted him to do after graduation. The conversation had been largely circular, since Asahi was being his usual humble and indecisive self, and Nishinoya eventually tired of it, so since then they’d been sitting in comfortable silence. Listening to Karasuno’s duo go back and forth in a seemingly endless exchange of nothingness.

Something about their discussion topic had started to make Nishinoya wonder himself. So he turned to his seat mate, eyes alight with curiosity. “So, Asahi,” he started, “have you ever been to a hot springs?”

Asahi didn’t reply and that’s when Nishinoya noticed the way his face was strangely pale.

“Oh god, what’s—“

The retired ace swayed in his seat. “C-Carsick…”

“Oi, don’t pass out on me.” Nishinoya did his best to prop his friend up and gritted his teeth. “Someone open a window quick! Ryuu! Asahi don’t lean over the seat—“

Tanaka shot up from the seat ahead of them.“I got it!” Reaching back, he shoved their window pane up, flooding the cabin with hissing, cool air.

“Ryuu! Sit down!” Ennoshita yelled, trying to pull Tanaka back into his seat, but the bus went over a large bump, so Tanaka ended up sitting in Ennoshita’s lap. The new captain smirked but Ennoshita just pushed him off to the side with a huff.

The libero shook Asahi’s shoulder. “Oi! Asahi don’t you dare throw up! I need a bag!”

“Eh?! Asahi’s sick?” Suga appeared from over the top of the seat two rows up.

“Yeah, says he’s carsick,” Tanaka answered, standing up again, much to Ennoshita’s vexation.

Karasuno’s captain took two fistfuls of Tanaka’s shirt and physically yanked him back into his seat. “Sit! Down! Nishinoya can handle it.”

“Asahi you’re kind of a big baby,” Suga commented, peering back with a cheeky grin.

“ _Really_ , Suga?” Asahi groaned, turning somewhat green as the bus went around another curve.

Daichi’s head popped up next. “Suga’s right. Buck up, Asahi. We aren’t even halfway there yet.”

Their largest member wobbled and covered his mouth. “I…I think I’m gonna be sick…”

Nishinoya scrambled to hold out the paper bag. “H-Here, use the bag—Asahi _no_! The _bag_! Asahiii!”

Asahi had missed the bag completely, and Nishinoya was wailing about it. Now both Tanaka and Ennoshita were leaned up over their seat as well, worry for what was happening behind them taking precedence over safety.

Tanaka recoiled in shock at the sight. “Ack! I’m surprised it wasn’t Hinata for once!” That earned him a glare from Ennoshita.

“Eh?” Hinata sprang up from his seat, yelling. “What about me!”

Kageyama shot up next, fully standing and taking a firm hold on Hinata’s shirt collar. “Shut up, dumbass! They weren’t talking to you! Sit down! You still haven’t told me—“

“Kageyama get your hands off me!” Hinata took a handful of Kageyama’s shirt as well, tugging roughly. “I’m not gonna tell you!”

The two began struggling with one another, hands grabbing at each other’s faces and necks and arms, as Hinata tried to push away and Kageyama tried to pull him down. Kageyama was yelling “dumbass” like a broken record. In almost any other scenario, this would have been laughable.

Ennoshita frowned. He had recognized this to be a good captaining moment and yelled, “Oi! No fighting on the bus!” When his words fell on deaf ears, he turned to Tanaka with a pointed look. “Ryuu, help me out here!”

“Nah, this one’s all yours,” Tanaka denied nonchalantly.

“You bastard. Get up and help. You’re the vice!”

“Make me,” Tanaka growled, tongue out mockingly.

Ennoshita’s eye twitched as he glared at the new vice captain. “Oh, I _will_.”

Tanaka shivered and wrinkled his nose. “Shit, Chikara, save that sort of thing for later!” When the intense stare did not subside, the vice captain put his hands up. “Alright, alright, I’ll take care of it!”

Grumbling, he leaned down to reach the seat, where he took hold of Ennoshita’s shoe. At first, Ennoshita thought it was a mistake until he felt his foot being lifted and the shoe slipped off.

“H-Hey what’re you—Ryuu that’s my _shoe_!”

Smirking, Tanaka shook his head. “You said take care of it. This is me taking care of it!” And he hurled the shoe toward the back, clocking Kageyama right in the jaw, causing the whole bus to stop and stare at him. Even Kinoshita and Narita had woken up from their nap at the back just to blink in bafflement at what they had just seen.

The wing spiker let them have their moment of stunned silence before he shouted, “Oi! All of you shut the hell up! You’re so noisy! We’ve still got a ways to go so can all of you _please_ chill out, dammit?”

And with that said, most everyone who had been standing immediately plopped down. Kageyama and Hinata finally let go of one another, still grumbling, and took their seats.

“Good, now—bgweh!“ He was cut off when Ennoshita smacked him upside the head, making everyone on the bus wince.

The new captain glared at his vice pointedly before he smoothed his shirt to compose himself. “Kageyama, could you throw my shoe back up here, please?”

Blinking, the setter took a moment to process the request before he started searching for the article in question, finding it under their seat, and underhand tossed it back up the aisle.

“Thank you,” Ennoshita said with a smile as he received the item. Almost robotically, he adjusted his posture to address the whole bus. “Everyone, we should arrive in roughly forty minutes, so behave,” he finished sweetly, before plopping back down and leaving everyone in utter shock.

Even after the gentle lull of conversation returned, Daichi and Suga were still sitting petrified in the frontmost seat.

Daichi couldn’t even find the right words. For a moment he sat silently mouthing different starting points before eventually shaking his head with a low chuckle. “I…truly don’t know what to say.”

“It kind reminded me of when you lost it on Kageyama and Hinata at the beginning of last year,” Suga said absently. “I have to say…I wasn’t expecting Tanaka to, um, do _that_.”

A dark look overtook Daichi’s features. “Ennoshita’s gonna lose it on him later.”

“That’s putting it lightly,“ Suga admitted with a small cringe.

The bus went around a sharp turn and some of the bags fell from the seats, at which Ukai clicked his tongue. He was pleased when none of the boys got up to deal with fixing them. They seemed to still be reeling from the shock of earlier. Ennoshita and Tanaka’s methods were…unorthodox and somewhat harsh, but Karasuno responded well to the “loud and clear” sort of direction. It was quite clear why Daichi and Suga chose them as the club’s successors—their way of leading wasn’t unlike the old captain and vice’s own—and Ukai agreed with their choices wholeheartedly.

“I need to pee,” Hinata abruptly announced at the top of his lungs.

Kageyama immediately retaliated with, “We literally just got on the bus!”

“Yeah well I need to pee!”

“Then hold it!”

“Kageyama! Hinata! Stop yelling, dammit!”

“Ryuu! Language!”

“Sorry.”

Ukai felt like he was about to have an aneurysm as he pushed his weight against the steering wheel and exhaled sharply. “This is going to be a _long_ two days.”

Perhaps it was nostalgia that made Takeda smile at the remark. A fond remembrance of just how many matches they had been fortunate enough to have together. And how many had gone exactly like this. With a very tense Ukai at the wheel and their freak duo creating a ruckus. The hardest pill to swallow was the realization that this was likely going to be the last time they all went somewhere _together_. But, this was also the start of a new chapter.

The bus finally curved around the mountainside and they were all bathed in the deep orange light of sunset. They had been skirting the mountain’s dark side the entire way up, and now the land off their left side dropped off dangerously, leading down to a tiny winding river at the base of the ravine. He glanced at the team through the rear view mirror, who were now complaining about how bright it had become, then he looked over at Ukai, who was scowling as he pulled down his sunglasses. For all of his weird mannerisms, Ukai was actually quite a practical guy.

Takeda shook his head roughly and turned his gaze back to the road ahead. This was no time to be sad. The trip was only beginning, after all.


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Wow, look at me actually keeping my every other day update schedule! The next chapter is being difficult and is quite lengthy so I'm struggling with it. It may come a bit later, so I apologize. I am a mess.
> 
> Anyway, this chapter has more ship-specific scenes and marks the descent into true shipping hell. So from here on out, expect lots scenes of certain fluffy boys doing silly things. Also expect a lot more line breaks because trying to tie unrelated scenes together is a pain. And a heads up, this particular chapter has a heavy dose of Tsukkiyama!!
> 
> Enjoy!

"Uwaah! An open air bath! Kageyama, look!" Hinata called on his way back from the bathroom, fully pressing himself against the giant glass windows that overlooked the pool itself.

Kageyama stalked over to him, frowning. “I’m looking, dumbass. Calm down."

The receptionist showed a polite smile that didn’t reach her eyes. "Yes, we have two open air baths for all gender use, and a private indoor bath for men and women to use separately."

"This is,” Suga started, looking around, “actually really nice."

Nishinoya was next to offer a comment. “Are there any snacks?”

“Smells like incense in here,” Tanaka observed, inhaling deeply. “It’s gooood.”

Tsukishima groaned. “Could you all _please_ be normal for once?”

“So what's for breakfast?" Nishinoya leaned up over the front desk, straining on his tip toes.

The woman behind it answered him almost immediately. “We serve an international buffet-style breakfast.”

"Score!” Nishinoya and Tanaka yelled in unison with a fist bump. In retaliation, Ennoshita smacked them both.

Ukai shoved them all out of the way with an apologetic chuckle. “Ah, ma’am, I apologize for these guys, they're a _little_ excited."

"It is no problem,” she replied, shaking her head. “Let me grab your room keys." She turned sharply on her heel and slipped into the back room.

Ukai shot the group a dirty look, one that held a clear meaning they all knew far too well. Everyone immediately straightened and fell silent, nobody daring to test the threat of a fierce reprimanding should any one of them put a single toe out of line. Even Hinata and Kageyama came slinking back to sulk with the others.

They had made good time coming the rest of the way to the resort, as thankfully there were no more shoe-throwing episodes. The only exciting event was when they passed a waterfall and the bus had been filled with Hinata’s screams of still needing to pee. Everyone had actually dozed off shortly after, in fact, Ennoshita and Tanaka were still trying to wake themselves up. Ennoshita even had a reasonably bad case of bed head.

So now they were all standing in the lobby—a narrow room with high ceilings with massive support beams. Everything was a deep mahogany brown, and the floor was polished hardwood. Overhead were broad, hanging chandeliers that bathed the great room in warm yellow light. At the far end was a small guest lounge and the wall of glass that Hinata had been losing his mind over.

Outside, Ukai could see the sky was still orange and the clouds tinted pink with the fading light of sunset. Ukai was surprised that they had made it before dark quite honestly. Now they would actually have time to watch the sunset from the bath. It would be a good end to a hectic day.

“Here you are.”

With a smile, the receptionist handed Ukai seven little paper packets with room numbers on them, which he distributed to each of the rooming pairs. Inside the packs were two door keys, each on their own wristband for easy carrying.

Hinata gaped at his key, holding it up like it was some kind of precious artifact. “Oooh! A real door key! This is retro!”

“It’s not retro,” Nishinoya corrected as he struck a pose, “it’s an aesthetic!”

“Woah, so cool!” Hinata’s eyes shone with admiration as he observed the libero.

Yamaguchi sighed. “I’m pretty sure they just didn’t want to pay for card readers…”

Hinata then adopted a contemplative expression, placing a finger on his lips. “Don’t metal keys kinda make your hands smell bad after you hold them though?”

“Eh?”Kageyama cocked his head. “Do they?”

Tsukishima scowled at them. “You two are _so_ weird.”

“What? It’s true!” Hinata cried defensively, thrusting his palms into Tsukishima’s face. “Here! Smell!”

Yamaguchi snorted into his hand, earning him a sharp glare from the blond.

“I am _not_ smelling your hands,” Tsukishima retorted, wrinkling his nose.

“Just smell!”

Daichi and Ennoshita then marched over to place firm hands on the shoulders of each of the offending parties, effectively stopping the building tension in its tracks.

“Knock it off, both of you,” Ennoshita said through gritted teeth.

Hinata hung his head and Tsukishima rolled his eyes. But both apologized.

“Sorry.”

Ukai rubbed his neck. These kids never changed, he swore. “Aiya, just—don’t lose the keys, okay? These are harder to replace than card keys.”

“Yes, coach,” everyone answered.

“And don’t lock them in your rooms either.”

Another chorus. “Right!”

At Daichi’s beckoning, all then made to head for their rooms but Ukai’s voice stopped them.

“Oi! Before you all run off—Hinata don’t touch that!” The entire team watched as Hinata froze in the middle of messing with one of the lampshades on the wall lights with a sheepish grin. He whipped his hands behind his back, chuckling awkwardly. Ukai sighed. “Geez. Breakfast is at 7, lunch is at noon, and dinner is at 6. If you miss it, well, just don’t miss it, please. Sensei and I are staying in the room at the end of this hallway—“ Ukai gestured with his left hand down the hall— “So if you guys need anything, you know where to find us. Okay I think that’s it, you’re all free to go—just don’t break anything!”

And the group cheered loudly as they took off.

He sighed at the receding stampede of teenage idiots that was thundering down the hallways to their rooms to go unpack and change and who knows what else. Ukai really didn’t care to know the details.

Takeda chuckled from beside him. “You’re kind of like a dad of twelve sons. It’s funny.”

“So what,” Ukai leaned down to whisper. His hand brushed Takeda’s. “Does that make you their mom?”

The teacher shivered at the touch. “H-Hey, what if they see?”

“Who? The kids? The _staff_? Nobody’s gonna care.”

“Huh? But—“

“Why do you think I was so set on us coming to this place specifically?”

“Ukai-kun, you _devil_!”

“Yeah. I know,” Ukai finished with a grin as he tangled their fingers together. “Now come on, the suite we’re in has a _private_ pool.” And with that, he started off down the hallway.

Takeda gawked at his roommate. “P-Private pool?!”

 

* * *

 

“Oh, this is pretty nice,” Yamaguchi commented as he pulled the door open to their room. “There’s tea here—oh, and look at these cute little cups!” He pranced his way through the entry and kitchenette, eyes darting about to take it all in. The room was simple. Traditional tatami mats throughout. There was the main room with a low table and cushions, at the far end behind a bamboo-adorned divider were their two futons. On the wall was a mounted television, at which Yamaguchi ogled.“Wow, that’s a big tv. Tsukki we should see if they’re broadcasting the matches again later.” When he got to their closet spaces, he gasped. “Look! Here’s our yukata!”

Tsukishima nodded at the other boy’s antics with a huff. “I mean, it’s not a bad room.” He wasn’t lying either. In terms of resort rooms, this wasn’t lavish or anything. From what he knew about onsens, this was pretty standard. Besides, it’s not like the room was the real prize.

“C’mon, Tsukki,” Yamaguchi countered, folding his arms. “It’s just us now, you don’t have to be so stingy. Or would you prefer I called you Kei?” The brunette smirked with a hint of danger.

Unamused, the blond clicked his tongue. “Just go change already.”

“Okay. What gives? You’ve been tense all day. More than usual.”

Slightly irritated at being called out, Tsukishima snorted and looked away. But his tone was soft when he spoke. “I…just wanted us to get some time together. We haven’t had any time for just us in days.”

Yamaguchi pursed his lips and nodded, before he heaved a sigh. “Well I’m pretty sure that’s the whole reason we’re here. I did some research on the way up. Apparently, this place is practically a couples’ resort!”

The shock was evident on Tsukishima’s face and he straightened up, brow furrowing. A million thoughts flew through his head and he briefly wondered just how much they would be able to get away with here. Maybe this would be their chance. Especially if Yamaguchi’s research was correct.

“So with that said,” he continued, “I want us to spend the entire evening together. I’m not going to leave your side, okay? We’re going to get plenty of _us_ time.”

“Tch. Have you ever left my side before?” Tsukishima lifted an eyebrow.

That made him laugh as he skipped up to the blond, smirking deviously. “My my, look out Karasuno. Saltyshima is running the show tonight.”

Tsukishima forcibly swallowed the laugh bubbling in his throat and frowned through the urge to smile. “Shut up.”

“ _Make me_ ,” Yamaguchi mouthed as he pulled Tsukishima’s glasses off.

Smirking, the blond nuzzled his roommate’s ear. “Go change first.”

“Pfft. You just want me in yukata, don’t you?”

“Maybe I do. And I’m not sure about that attitude, Tadashi.”

Yamaguchi grinned cheekily. “I’ll change if you do.”

“Just strip already before I take your pants off for you,” Tsukishima growled.

Yamaguchi’s entire face turned red as he yelped. But before he could offer a reply, there was a loud crash from the room next door, followed by a bout of yelling.

“Let go of me dammit! I already called this futon!”

“No, I did! Now get off!”

“Make me!”

Tsukishima blinked as he inhaled deeply, clenching his fists. A precursor to anger. Not only had they just ruined the moment, they had singlehandedly just ruined that phrase for the rest of his life. Yamaguchi snickered into his palm, eyes sparkling with amusement. He could already tell that this was going to be good.

“Oi! Freaks! Shut up!” Tsukishima snapped, frowning something awful.

Hinata’s voice was first to answer. “T-Tsukishima?! _You’re_ next door?! Dammit Kageyama you just _had_ to pick these keys!”

“ _Me_? _You_ grabbed this one!” Kageyama argued.

“Eh?! You told me to grab it!”

“Then it’s _your_ fault for not thinking!”

Tsukishima inwardly groaned as he pinched the bridge of his nose. The mood was sufficiently destroyed. Yamaguchi gave him an apologetic glance and slipped the glasses back into Tsukishima’s hands before he grabbed his kimono and motioned to the bathroom. The blond nodded and groaned. Their neighbors were still bickering, and from the dull thudding and exclamations, it wasn’t hard to guess that they were having a rather aggressive pillow fight.

“Idiots,” Tsukishima muttered to himself as he grabbed his yukata and stripped down.

It suddenly hit him hard that he and Yamaguchi were going to be totally in the nude underneath these, in fact they all would be. That wasn’t exactly weird, considering the team bathed together all the time. For some reason, this just felt like it meant something different. But he pushed that thought away when the bathroom door slid open. Yamaguchi stepped out just as Tsukishima pulled his new garment on, and the moment he put his glasses back on, Tsukishima could’ve sworn he _saw_ the sparks flying.

Yamaguchi bit his lip. “You look good.”

“So do you,” Tsukishima replied plainly.

“So, what do you want to do with our _us_ time?” His teammate started approaching, blatantly swinging his hips.

Tsukishima didn’t fight the smile this time. Yamaguchi was nearly within arms reach and the blond’s hands were itching to touch. “I can think of a few things.”

“Oh?” Yamaguchi licked his lips, naughtiness dancing in his gaze. “And what _things_ are those?”

“HINATA! STOP STEALING MY CLOTHES!” came roaring from next door, and Tsukishima tensed so hard a vein popped out on his forehead.

The pinch setter snorted at the reaction and began giggling into the taller boy’s chest. He personally found Kageyama and Hinata’s dynamic to be extremely humorous, especially when it made Tsukishima angry. And things like this always seemed to happen whenever they got a moment to themselves.

“ _First_ , I want to get far away from _that_.” Tsukishima threw a vague gesture toward the wall. “I don’t care _what_ we do after!”

Yamaguchi smiled. “Let’s just head for the baths then. We can save _this_ ,” he drawled, fingertips dancing over Tsukishima’s hips, “for later.”

Tsukishima chuckled and slung an arm around Yamaguchi’s shoulders, starting to guide them both toward the door. “Let’s just get out of here before they start dry humping each other or something.”

“Oh geez!” Yamaguchi initially shook his head before the realization set in. “They wouldn’t…would they?”

Tsukishima shrugged. “I’m not sticking around to find out. Now let’s go. I wanna swim.”

Yamaguchi laughed and slapped the taller boy’s back with a grin, making him wince. “Lead the way, _Kei_.”


	4. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm a day late updating, darn it! This chapter is actually only half of what chapter 4 was supposed to be, but it didn't feel right to upload a 6k chapter all at once, so this is what it's come to. Guess you could call it part one of the boys in the bath. But this way I get to end on a fun little cliffhanger!
> 
> This chapter's got a heavy dose of Asanoya and Daisuga (toward the end).

“Asahi your hand is literally as big as my face,” Nishinoya exclaimed animatedly, plastering Asahi’s right hand to his face for emphasis, now mumbling through the palm. “Shmee? Thesh huuge!”

The graduated ace leaned back into the water, smacking his forehead with his other hand. “That’s what every guy wants to be told, Yuu. Thank you for boosting my confidence.”

Nishinoya grinned as he peeked out from behind the hand, eyes glittering with endless innuendos. “They’re almost as big as your—“

“Uwah! Don’t say it!” Asahi clapped his hand back over shorter boy’s mouth, looking around hurriedly to see if anyone else had heard.

“You wanted me to boost your confidence,” Nishinoya countered once he had successfully pried the hand away.

“Not like that,” Asahi retorted, frowning.

“Fine," the libero conceded. "But you know I love your d—“

The ace flailed about in the water, splashing Nishinoya in his haste. “Don’t say that! It’s embarrassing!”

Nishinoya shook the water from his hair with a grin. “I was going to say direct spike.”

“No," Asahi argued, shooting a glare at the shorter boy. "You weren’t.”

“No. I wasn’t,” Nishinoya agreed darkly.

They side-eyed each other for a moment, clearly fighting losing battles against their smiles, before both broke into fits of chuckles.

To their surprise, they had actually been the first ones out into the pool, even after listening to Ennoshita and Tanaka literally race one another to change from the room next door. They must’ve gotten…distracted. But who could blame them?

The sun was still just peeking out over the horizon enough to illuminate the sky and cast the onsen in a deep orange glow. Even the water itself looked like liquid fire.

But the air was starting to get much cooler. Soon, it might even be considered cold.

After the laughing faded, the two fell into a comfortable silence. Asahi even started to drift off, it had been a long day after all, but he was rudely jarred back to consciousness when Nishinoya roughly clambered into his lap.

“Hey,” Nishinoya murmured, pressing their foreheads together. “Can we do stuff later?”

Asahi blinked for a moment, processing, before he sighed. Unfortunately, he knew exactly to what _stuff_ the libero was referring. “You know you’re way too loud for that.”

Nishinoya pursed his lips as he started teasing the ace’s hair out of its bun. “Then, I’ll just do stuff to you.”

“How about we just enjoy the peace and quiet?” Asahi countered, half-wishing that the libero would just agree for once. When they weren't up to no good in some room somewhere trying to satisfy Nishinoya's appetite for that sort of thing, they actually could have a deeply enjoyable time together.

Well, Nishinoya had never been the best at relaxing in the first place though. He was the type who could function on less than a decent night's sleep and still wake at the earliest possible hour. Asahi was definitely not wired that way. But he did love the initial shock of waking at dawn that gave way to the intense warmth of morning and Nishinoya's bright smile.

“That’s so _boring_ , though," Nishinoya groaned, twisting Asahi's hair about his fingers aimlessly. "We’re staying here for two days. Two. Whole. Days. You’re going to break my streak,” he added with a small pout.

Asahi chuckled and leaned up to bump their noses. “I’m still surprised you want more.”

“I always want more." Nishinoya grinned and pulled his hands free to nestle down into the ace's chest, resting his head in the gap between Asahi's chin and his collarbone."And once the new year starts, we probably won’t get to see each other much.”

That was certainly a fair point. Even though Asahi wouldn't be leaving for university like Daichi and Suga, he would be busy helping out at home and finding a job for himself. It was actually a common argument for them to go through, that normally ended in both of them being so fired up that they needed some time alone. It was Nishinoya's opinion that Asahi was more than qualified for college and could even continue to play volleyball in a non-competitive sense. He was convinced that Asahi was choosing not to go because he was slipping back into his cowardice of the year prior.

It had taken far too many heated arguments to convince the fiery libero that college simply wasn't something Asahi wanted to do.

So now, Asahi was slightly surprised. This was the first time that Nishinoya had brought it up without so much as mentioning a potential challenge. It was refreshing for Nishinoya to respect his wishes on the subject.

With a sigh, Asahi felt like a troublesome weight had been lifted from his heart. They both had changed so much. “Just don’t get us in trouble with the others.”

“Who’s gonna care?” Nishinoya scoffed.

“I don’t think Daichi and Suga want to listen to you all night,” Asahi clarified with a smirk.

Nishinoya hummed as he started to fiddle with Asahi's hand again. “Suga isn’t exactly quiet either. You remember the Nekoma training camp.”

Asahi flinched. “Do we _have_ to talk about that?”

“I’m trying to prove a point here,” Nishinoya rationalized.

“What’s there to prove?” Asahi raised an eyebrow incredulously. “You’re loud and Suga is too.”

Nishinoya heaved a sigh. “Geez, if you really don’t want to do it then that’s fine. I’ll survive.”

Asahi gritted his teeth. “…if you _swear_ to try and keep it down this time—“

“Oh!" Nishinoya cried, springing out of Asahi's lap in an instant, splashing the poor ace with a strong wave. "Tsukishima! Yamaguchi!”

The sarcastic duo had just emerged from the locker room, wearing nothing but their respective towels. Tsukishima was scowling while Yamaguchi was smiling pleasantly.

Asahi wiped the water from his face with a sigh. Nishinoya had a tendency to overreact whenever they almost got caught.

“Hi guys, ah, were we interrupting…?” Yamaguchi inquired as they approached, obviously somewhat distressed by the sight of Asahi being absolutely drenched.

Nishinoya waved a hand at them as he paddled over toward the shallower side. “No, no, Asahi and I were just talking about, uh, what were we talking about Asahi?”

The graduated ace blinked. “Um," he started, fumbling with the words in his head before he just blurted the first thing that came to mind, "m-meditation?”

Nishinoya gave him a perplexed look before turning back to the younger boys with an honest grin. “Yeah. That’s right. We were talking about meditation.”

“Ehh?” Tsukishima’s lips curled into a devious smirk. “That sounds relaxing. Could you teach us, Asahi-san?”

Asahi opened his mouth, then closed it, and repeated the cycle as he turned to Nishinoya for help, who just shrugged and gave him a “go on, then” stare. The taller male accepted his fate and decided to go ahead and tell the truth—that it was actually a bald-faced lie—when two more individuals came bursting out into the pool area.

It was Tanaka and Ennoshita. And they appeared to be involved in a particularly engaging conversation.

Tanaka was shaking his head and gesturing emphatically while Ennoshita side-eyed him. “You _know_ I’m right Chikara, cucumbers are really good for—oh! Hey guys! It’s already a party out here!”

The lack of response the greeting got made the newcomers freeze.

“Did we…interrupt something?” Tanaka was genuinely concerned.

Reluctantly, Nishinoya chose to confront them. “Uh, Ryuu, just what exactly were you guys discussing?”

At the devilish look that crossed Tanaka’s face, Ennoshita smacked him upside the head before his roommate could answer the inquiry.

“Skin care,” Ennoshita answered in his stead. “I know it sounded bad but that’s actually the truth. _This guy_ just thinks it’s funny to try and mess around like that.”

Nishinoya seemed shocked. “Skin care?! Ryuu knows about stuff like that?”

Tanaka groaned and rubbed his head. “Saeko never shuts up about it so I learn by default. Geez, Chikara, that actually hurt.”

“Next time think before you speak,” Ennoshita retaliated, still bristling as he headed for the pool. Tanaka followed in his wake, still grumbling even after they had shed their towels and stepped into the steaming water.

Tanaka blinked before a soft smile took hold of his features. “Wow, it’s really nice in here.”

“Isn’t it great?!” Nishinoya exclaimed, lifting his arms abruptly to shower them all in droplets.

There was a loud exclamation from the pool entrance and the group looked back to find Daichi, Suga, Kinoshita, and Narita all towel-clad and sauntering over.

Suga was first to comment. “Oh god, looks like we’re a bit late to the party, Daichi.”

“Oh, hey guys,” Nishinoya yelled from the pool, waving excitedly.

Just as the newly arrived group was about to greet the others, a bout of yelling made them all freeze.

“Kageyama stop pushing me, we aren’t allowed to run out here!”

“You’re so slow!”

And sure enough, the group watched wide-eyed as their genius setter and ace-wannabe came all but running out of the changing area, seeming to be having a race.

Suga chuckled as the freak duo finally made it over to them, seconds away from picking a fight with one another. He turned to Daichi with an amused twinkle in his eye before tossing aside his towel and entering the bath.

Daichi rolled his eyes and stuck his hands on his hips as he untied his towel. “Anyway, Kinoshita, I still don’t think that would work. I didn’t bring the right materials.”

Kinoshita nodded. “We’ll have to do something about it once we get back to the gym then.”

“Don’t worry,” Daichi added with a blinding smile. “You’ll get to do it one last time.”

“Do what?!” Hinata suddenly popped up right in front of them.

Daichi almost jumped out of his skin at the prompting, and he inhaled deeply to try and calm himself as he properly folded his towel. Just as he was about to offer a reply, Kinoshita answered for him.

“It’s a secret,” the new third year whispered with a sly smile.

Hinata stood up straight, tilting his head in confusion. “Ehhh? That’s no fun.”

“Coming from _you_ that’s really ironic,” Tsukishima muttered from his seat in the water. Yamaguchi snorted from beside him.

“Sh-Shut up Tsukishima!” Hinata howled, turning pink at the insult. Huffing, he stepped to the edge of the pool and practically belly flopped into it, making sure to thoroughly splash the other two new second years.

Suga threw an accusatory finger at the redhead. “Oi! Hinata! No jumping!”

“Sorry,” Hinata answered, now floating on his back and frantically rowing away from the soaked blond. Kageyama started telling Hinata to wait up and practically ran his way right into the pool, fully wading his way toward the petrified middle blocker.

“At least they’re down at the far end now,” Daichi observed with no small amount of relief and they group cringed when Kageyama dunked Hinata under the waterfall, both yelling obscenities at one another. To a curious onlooker, it would look like a full blown fight, but this was their honest, odd, and physically intense form of friendship.

Kinoshita, Narita, and Daichi finally stepped in as well and took seats on the submerged rim around the edge of the bath. Tsukishima and Yamaguchi were sitting on the near side where the pool began to narrow before entering the far end where Kageyama and Hinata were still wrestling. Ennoshita and Tanaka were sitting on the opposite side from them. Daichi and Suga were sitting near the stairs, Asahi and Nishinoya were next to them in front of the planter box, and Kinoshita and Narita had settled for a spot on the opposite side of the stairs from Daichi and Suga.

The pool itself was only about four feet at the edges and only three by the stairs, but the middle strip got to be quite a bit deeper. So that taller guests could still be submerged while standing. It pinched slightly at the middle, so that two groups could be in the pool with some amount of privacy, and the far side had a small waterfall that added a comfortable amount of white noise to the background.

So for a bit, they all just sat. Truly relaxing. For the first time in weeks. Even Kageyama and Hinata eventually swam back and settled down next to Tsukishima and Yamaguchi. Steeped in silence, they all found themselves gazing upward into the sky, where the first stars had just started to become visible. The sun had fully set now, and the pool area was being gently lit by numerous round lamps strung overhead near the resort building.

A few birds called and crickets chirped from the forest beyond the fenced perimeter. Even though they had in no way come from the city, this was still so much different than what they were used to.

It was indisputably peaceful.

Tanaka finally broke the silence with a loud sigh as he ran a hand through his hair. “Guys…we’re national champions.”

“It’s still hard to believe,” Ennoshita added with a huff.

Suga smirked. “You guys better win again next year.”

Everyone laughed and the glossy surface of the water was broken as they all began to shift about, moving toward the stairs so they could converse with one another.

Ennoshita rolled his eyes with a smile. “Oh geez, no pressure.”

“Asahi-san’s spikes were so cool!” Hinata exclaimed as he crawled after Kageyama toward the assembling group, eyes alight with renewed wonder.

At Asahi’s bashful response, Daichi grinned and smacked his friend lightly before turning back to Hinata. “You had some really good kills too, Hinata. You and Kageyama will be a killer team next year.”

“Can I be the ace?” Hinata inquired, at which Kageyama, Tsukishima, and Yamaguchi scoffed.

“Woah woah,” Tanaka cut in with a sneer, “not too fast there Hinata, _I’m_ the ace now!” Ennoshita was quick to tell his vice to tone it down.

Their second shortest member threw his head back in defeat dramatically. “Awww man, I’ll still do my best!”

“Yeah! You’d better!” Tanaka called back with a thumbs up. He then turned back to the graduates. “Suga-san, you had some amazing sets to the back line, too!”

Suga chuckled shyly. “Ah, Nishinoya did, too! It was so awesome to watch the other teams’ reactions when Nishinoya jumped to make a set!”

Narita suddenly chimed in, “What about that one wipe that Tanaka had that went all the way up into the stands! Oooh, I had chills!”

Yamaguchi nodded emphatically. “Yeah I remember that one! It was so awesome! Tanaka-san you should teach us!”

Tanaka was sufficiently flustered by all of the praise and he frantically pushed the spotlight away. “Well Ennoshita and Daichi were amazing at picking up serves!”

“Ah! Remember that one crazy service ace that was a liner every time? It was so hard to get!” Nishinoya tensed at the memory, a wobbly grin on his face.

Even Kageyama was getting excited now, since he’d done a fair bit of receiving especially when Nishinoya was on the court to potentially make a set in his stead. “Oh yeah! That was super hard! How about when Suga-san did the—“

Despite the face he was once again the subject of discussion, Suga ended up tuning out of the excited retellings and instead looked to Daichi with a soft smile, which was immediately reciprocated. Moving a little closer, Daichi brushed their hands together and interlocked their little fingers. A secret gesture of solidarity. But the accompanying words were what affected him the most.

“Don’t you start dissociating on me. You were as much a part of this as anyone.”

Alarmed, Suga tensed, wide-eyed. Daichi had seen right through him. Sighing, he scooted close enough to whisper, “Same goes for you, mister.”

The ex-captain just shook his head with a smile.

So, as they last bleeding strands of light left the sky, the team recounted the matches at nationals with nostalgic glee, and it was silently understood that they would all miss one another. All of them had settled into a nice little semi-circle in the shallow end of the pool, and it was becoming painfully obvious just how close they were all getting to one another. The tension could be cut with a knife. But the conversation continued peacefully as they discussed the little things and laughed together. Even if it was just for the sake of reliving the old days and basking in these last moments, they were determined to make something of it.

Yet, as with any group, the dialogue eventually faded into a deep lull, in which the pairs started all looking at one another. Some shifted closer, others pulled away awkwardly. The mood had started to shift. It was totally dark overhead now, and yet they were all still sitting in their half circle, trying to avert their eyes.

Hinata was definitely the most affected. This was exactly what he had been worried about—and the mere presence of the body next to him was becoming too much to handle. Kageyama still had no idea. Unbeknownst to the group, Tsukishima and Yamaguchi had been holding hands the entire time. Tanaka had his arm behind Ennoshita’s head, which the latter was laying on, Kinoshita and Narita were sitting _very_ close to one another, while Suga and Nishinoya were leaning comfortably on the sides of their respective roommates.

It was undeniably nice to just be comfortable together like this. No one to tell them they _had_ to make something of themselves. That volleyball was all they had. And _finally_ no more stupid cameras for them to worry about catching any one of them at a bad time.

Here, they were safe.

The only kicker was that outside of each respective partnership, none of them had ever gotten any confirmation as to just how close each numbered set really was. Sure, they’d heard things, and seen the signs, but no one had ever confessed to any of it before. And in a way, that was just as well.

But that was going to change soon enough.

Daichi and Asahi eventually admitted that they needed to go to the toilet, which jarred them all back into reality. Suga and Nishinoya were forced to get up, and once the two oldest boys were gone, Suga turned back to the group excitedly.

A sadistic sort of grin twisted his lips. “I know something to talk about.”


	5. Chapter 5

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is very late and I am very sorry. For multiple reasons. This chapter was...interesting to write. It's maybe slightly nsfw but mainly for humor's sake. So with that said, please don't take this chapter too seriously. It's a bit out there, but it's something I feel could happen.
> 
> Please enjoy the next bit of this disaster of a vacation. It picks up directly after last chapter.

“Oh? And what’s that?” Yamaguchi prompted from his position nearby, leaning out over the edge of the pool to rest his head on his arm. Tsukishima was now fiddling with the pinch setter’s hair, which had now grown almost to shoulder length.

“ _Sizes_ ,” Suga revealed, tone practically dripping with mischief.

Hinata tilted his head. “Sizes? Of what?”

From his seat next to the shorter boy, Kageyama groaned and took hold of Hinata’s ear, dragging the yelping middle blocker close enough to whisper. Gently, he revealed their conversation topic in a more blunt manner as a breathy gasp fell from Hinata’s mouth and his eyes flew open.

“OH!” Hinata flushed a brilliant shade of red, beginning to flail about and splashing Kageyama in the process. “ _THOSE_ SIZES!”

The rest of the group just laughed, until they all suddenly realized that it was somewhat odd that they had never had this discussion amongst themselves before. This sort of thing was common amongst guys. It was a matter of pride. And a display of camaraderie and trust as well.

Tanaka finally started them off with a sigh as he leaned a little farther back. “Well, I’m a straight up six.”

Frowning, Ennoshita turned to look at him pointedly. "Really?" That _definitely_ wasn’t what he remembered. Tanaka just shrugged.

Yamaguchi nodded with a shy grin and raised his hand. “So am I.”

“Me too,” Kageyama revealed, folding his arms.

Hinata gaped at the three who had given their lengths, shakily pointing back and forth between them. “S-Six?! Not fair! I’m four and a half!”

"Makes sense with how short you are," Kageyama countered, sneering. Hinata stuck his tongue out mockingly in reply.

“Ahh man,” Kinoshita butted in sheepishly, “you guys beat me. I’m five and a half.”

“Pfft. I'm just under that,” Narita confessed, nudging Kinoshita, who was failing to hide his blush.

Suga smirked and finally revealed that he was the same as Kinoshita. Everyone nodded in understanding while Hinata continued to pout.

There was a small pause.

Tsukishima clicked his tongue when Yamaguchi finally elbowed him to go next. “I’m six and a half,” the blond admitted begrudgingly.

A chorus of slightly shocked and jealous murmurs radiated through the semicircle in the aftermath.

“Tsukki!" the pinch setter exclaimed, gasping. "I thought you were a solid six.”

“Shut up Yamaguchi," Tsukishima clapped back, redness creeping into his cheeks. "I grew.”

Yamaguchi just continued to gape in shock. But a sly grin quickly retook his features and he leaned over to rest his chin on the blond's shoulder. "That's _fantastic_ , Tsukki."

The blond clicked his tongue again.

Nishinoya rubbed his neck sheepishly as he piped up, “Ah, I’m not that impressive. I’m four.”

“Only four?!" Hinata slipped off the ledge in his excitement, eventually using Kageyama's knee to hoist himself back onto the submerged edge. "So small!”

Kageyama immediately shot him down. “Hinata you’re only half an inch longer—“

“Sh-Shut up, Kageyama!” Hinata smacked his partner's thigh, entire body beet red. In retaliation, Kageyama shoved the spiker back down into the water.

The libero shrugged good-naturedly. “Yeah, I’m over it. But you know who _is_ impressive?" He gestured for the group to come closer. They all leaned in. " _Asahi_.”

“Ehh? Really?” Hinata called, now struggling to keep Kageyama's hands from grabbing his head.

Nishinoya bit his lip. “He’s _eight_.”

The entire pool was filled with a collective yell of, “EIGHT?!”

Nishinoya nodded proudly.

Suga then leaned in close and motioned for everyone to do the same. “You what else is impressive? Daichi’s _seven_.”

“SEVEN?” Another collective cry. Hinata began yelling loudly about how Kageyama was being mean, which wasn't entirely wrong since Kageyama was splashing him. Nishinoya was holding his stomach with laughter, Kinoshita and Naritawere sitting with their mouths hanging open, Tsukishima actually looked defeated and Yamaguchi was eyeing Suga with a mixture of awe and something that looked like envy.

Tanaka groaned and put an arm behind his head, gazing up into the now star-filled sky. “What’s with guys like them? Man, it must be nice.”

Suga nodded absently, murmuring, “Yeah, it kinda is.”

“Eh?” Tanaka snapped right up to look at the silver-haired setter. Ennoshita was watching intently as well. They had both caught him red handed. “Suga? What would _you_ know about that?”

The older boy flushed and waved his arms awkwardly, averting his gaze. “Oh, uh, I meant to say ’it must be.’ Slip of the tongue.” He flashed them a clearly forced smile.

Tanaka side-eyed Suga suspiciously, and he even shared a knowing look with Ennoshita, but neither chose to challenge the setter’s cover. A slip of the tongue was right. And a nearly deadly one at that.

From his new perch on the edge a few feet away from a very disgruntled Kageyama, Hinata whined, “Geez, I _still_ don’t believe you guys.”

Tsukishima nodded in agreement. “There’s no way that Nishinoya is smaller than Hinata.”

“I agree,"Suga added with a smirk. "Nishinoya gives off a larger presence than Hinata.”

“Uwah, so rude you guys,” Hinata accused, slumping down into the water.

“Oho? What’s going on here now?”

Heads everywhere swiveled to locate who had just addressed them only to find that their two missing members had returned, towels tied modestly around their waists. Asahi blinked blankly and Daichi smirked at the looks of surprise they had received from the boys still soaking in the hot water.

It wasn't hard to infer that they had just interrupted something particularly intense.

The moment of staring was ruined when Nishinoya practically flung himself out of the bath, not even bothering to grab a towel as he took hold of Asahi's wrist and began all but dragging him for the pool. “Asahi come over here, you need to vouch for yourself.”

“Eh?” Asahi stumbled a bit under Nishinoya’s intense pulling, but he didn't resist. “V-Vouch? For what?”

The libero looked him straight in the eye. “Yours measures eight right?”

“EH?!” All of the color left Asahi’s face and he grabbed his towel more tightly, turning to Daichi pleadingly.

The retired captain just groaned and turned to the only person who would _dare_ to start a conversation like this one. “Suga… _really_?”

Suga grinned apologetically. “Sorry, Dai, I had to.”

Daichi sighed as he tossed his towel off to the side and slipped back into the bath. The steam was thick enough now that the group could hardly see one another through it. “Well we can’t exactly prove any of this so we’re just gonna have to stick to the honor code.”

Nishinoya finally succeeded at dragging Asahi back into the water, but the sigh of relief that the graduated ace released was not from the hot water, it was from the knowledge that he would not be forced to put himself on display in front of his kouhai.

Ennoshita sighed as well, leaning back into Tanaka's arm. It was only natural that Daichi would attempt to smooth everything over, and it wasn't like Ennoshita himself was extremely keen on this discussion in the first place, but this was Karasuno they were dealing with. A bunch of unsupervised teenage boys with a knack for starting extremely immature fights and overly personal discussions. He was growing tired of dancing around the issue. The only way to settle the score for good would be to offer something so out of their comfort zones to jar them all back to their senses.

So, without much regard for the way it might come across, he blurted, “Why _talk_ measurements when we could all just see for ourselves? We’re all naked anyway.”

Silence. The only sound was the cascading waterfall. Even Suga was completely stunned.

In reality, it wasn’t an outlandish statement at all. They’d all bathed together before, so it wasn’t like they hadn’t seen one another naked, there just hadn’t been any real reason to… _compare_ before now.

Suga finally hummed to himself. “That’s...actually a fair point." Pleased with himself, he turned to the group with a syrupy smile. "Are you guys okay with it?”

Daichi attempted to intervene as he grabbed Suga’s shoulder. “Hold on, Suga—“

"Hush Daichi,” Suga hissed curtly, at which Daichi recoiled. Well that was that.

Slightly shocked by Suga’s willingness to do this, everyone glanced around and collectively shrugged. They were all thinking that it would be far more weird to refuse than it would be to accept. It wasn’t like there was any avoiding it either. The only one who tried to offer any grievances was Asahi, but his complaint was silenced even before it started by Nishinoya's quick hand.

After all, nobody could _ever_ refuse a request from Suga. Daichi was the only one even remotely qualified to tell their graduated setter what to do, and they had all seen how that ended up.

So the team held their tongues.

“Okay, then let’s do it,” Suga asserted with no small amount of glee, clapping his hands together. Unbeknownst to the group, this was exactly what he had wanted. He just hadn't wanted to be the one to instigate the big reveal.

Ennoshita, on the other hand, was horrified at the way his demand had been accepted so quickly. He almost stood up in his haste to cover for himself. It had just been an offhand comment—not a bonafide suggestion! “Wait, Suga, I wasn’t being serious—“

“You’re right though, Ennoshita,” Suga interrupted. “Why not just physically compare? It’ll be easier than arguing about it. And besides, we’ve all been naked together before.”

“But...“ Ennoshita didn’t have the heart to say that this was something totally different. Not to mention that he really didn't want to be exposed in this way. He stole a glance over at Daichi, appalled to find that the ex-captain was actually going along with this. And the rest of the group showed no signs of resistance either. Well...if no one else cared then he shouldn’t either.

Noticing his friend's inner turmoil, Tanaka nudged his shoulder encouragingly and the new captain just sighed in resignation.

Suga raised his hands for everyone’s attention. “Okay, on the count of three, everyone stand up, got it? One…two…three!”

And all twelve boys got on their feet in unison. Eyes started roaming the assembled bodies, analyzing them hungrily, until everyone was staring pointedly at Asahi’s groin.

The bearded male almost moved to cover himself, but he quickly realized that they had all already seen so it really wouldn't matter all all. “O-Oi, you guys—“

“Asahi I really hate you,” Daichi cut him off, tone dark and shaking his head.

Startled, Asahi rubbed his arm awkwardly. “D-Daichi you’re practically the same—“

Tanaka practically did a spit take as he pointed. “Asahi’s fucking _hung_ , man.”

“Ryuu,” Ennoshita chastised, though it was unclear if it was because of his language or the subject.

Whirling on his captain, Tanaka rolled his eyes. “What? It’s true!” Ennoshita just groaned.

Hinata was next to pipe up. “Ha! I am bigger than Nishinoya-senpai!”

“Dammit, Shouyou!" Nishinoya cried, raising a finger to point to Hinata, face steeled with determination. "I won’t lose like this again!”

Hinata just grinned and fist pumped with glee, but a small splash to his right made him turn to see that Kageyama was back sitting on the ledge, no longer exposing himself for the rest of the team. Normally, Hinata wouldn't care about something like that. Kageyama wasn't exactly one to follow rules. After all, Hinata knew that Kageyama could be pretty stupid.

But this time he was genuinely curious. And there was a social connotation to be had here as well. It wasn't right for only Kageyama to sit.

“Eh? Kageyama?” Hinata prompted. “Why’d you sit down?”

“Sh-Shut up,” the setter replied, seeming disgruntled. “I slipped, stupid.”

Hinata pursed his lips. “Well get back up then! It’s not fair for you to be the only one sitting.”

“That’s...“ Kageyama paused, “…not a good idea…”

Even in the dim moonlight reflecting off the water, it was clear that Kageyama was blushing. And his hands were conveniently placed in his lap. It didn't take a genius to understand what had just transpired.

And Hinata was certainly no genius. He shivered as he felt not _only_ his cheeks growing warmer. Frantic to cover for himself, he blurted the first thing that came to his mind, “O-Oh, um, th-then I’ll sit too!” And he tried to flop down, but ended up slipping and landing directly in Kageyama’s lap. And suddenly everything became embarrassingly clear.

Kageyama turned every shade of red as he all but launched the shorter boy off of him. “Hinata you _idiot_!”

“It’s not my fault Kageyamaaaa!” Hinata yelled, spluttering as he landed a few feet away with a rough splash.

The rest of the group watched in awe as their number nine and ten players began bickering. For the umpteenth time. Hinata finally slunk back to his spot next to Kageyama, muttering something under his breath that the group couldn’t make out, but Kageyama clearly heard as he grabbed onto Hinata’s hair and started yanking.

The usual.

Tanaka was first to scoff at their behavior and he placed hands on his hips. “The hell’s wrong with them now?”

“Beats me,” Ennoshita answered plainly.

“Aren’t you…you know—“ Tanaka gestured to the fighting duo emphatically— “supposed to stop them?”

“Meh.” Ennoshita shrugged. “Worst thing that could happen is they get so mad at each other they pout about it for a week.”

“We can’t afford that!” Tanaka slapped the water for emphasis.

The new captain shrugged again and put his hands behind his head. “Whenever you want to play team mom, Ryuu, please be my guest.”

“ _Honestly_ , Chikara,” Tanaka wheedled. This kind of role reversal wasn't his forte, but he knew better than anyone how stubborn Ennoshita Chikara could be.

Another shrug. “Just let me relax a little already.”

As the argumentative exclamations of Kageyama and Hinata faded, the rest of the team defaulted to silence. But not the uncomfortable kind. It was contemplative, as they all marveled at this new level of emotional intimacy between them. And the ensuing realization that, not only had they not minded the borderline vulgar display, this was likely the last time they would all get a chance to act this way with one another. For once in their lives, it was actually _safe_ to be like this. Whether this was “their true selves” or not was irrelevant, since regardless, it was nice to be able to operate outside whatever structured lines that custom always dictated they adhere to.

Even if it _was_ only for two days.

Daichi finally broke their silent spell, albeit reluctantly. “Well, since I’m actually pretty dry already, I might just head in.”

“Oh, if you’re going I might as well too,” Suga added matter-of-factly.

Nishinoya nodded emphatically. “Ditto. My hands are so wrinkled, look it’s so weird!” He thrust his hands in Asahi’s face, who awkwardly agreed with him.

Ennoshita perked up. “Eh? Is everyone going in now?”

“Guess so,” Tanaka answered with a shrug, making a grand exit of the pool and extending a hand down to Ennoshita. The new captain shot him a strong glare and slapped the hand away as he got out of the water himself.

Kinoshita sighed and stepped out. “Geez, well now it’s a mass exodus. It’d be weird to stay.” He grabbed a towel and started for the locker room. “C’mon, Kazuhito, let’s go.”

“Right behind you,” Narita replied, already snagging his towel.

Hinata turned to Kageyama, who looked positively dazed. “Kageyama you should probably get back to the room."

“Yeah…” the setter answered absently.

Seamlessly, Hinata stood and made for the towel rack. “I’ll get your towel.”

“Thanks,” Kageyama replied, like it was only natural.

Everyone in the vicinity froze for a moment as if a record had scratched. It took a moment for them to regain themselves. Hinata and Kageyama being _nice_ to each other?! Now _that_ was new. But then again, it's not like any of them were truly the same people they had been at the beginning of this journey, even in this day alone. One by one, they all filed back into the locker room, muttering something about wanting snacks.

Tsukishima watched the last two stragglers, the freak duo, both exit the pool _cordially_ for once with a plain expression of disgust. Once they were out of earshot he admitted, “It kinda freaks me out when they’re nice to each other.”

Yamaguchi chuckled as the two in question disappeared inside. “It’s only to be expected, I guess, after everything they’ve been through together.”

“ _God_ ,” Tsukishima groaned. “They’d better just figure it out tonight. I’m sick of watching this shitty mutual pining thing they’ve got going on.”

“Mm,” Yamaguchi murmured, leaning over into Tsukishima’s lap and laying light fingertips on his exposed chest just above the water level. “Do you want to go in, too, Tsukki?”

Tsukishima scoffed. “Hell no. I don’t want to listen to _them_ for the next hour.” He bent down to press a kiss into the pinch setter’s hair. “I’d rather be out here with you.”

Yamaguchi giggled and crawled his way into Tsukishima’s lap, melding their bodies together. “You think they’re going to do it?”

“It’s not any of my business what they do.”

Yamaguchi just laughed. He could practically _feel_ Tsukishima’s eye roll. “Aw, Tsukki. You do care about them.”

Tsukishima just deadpanned a curt, “Shut up,” in reply. But he still continued to embrace his teammate until they were hardly distinguishable from one another, as their hearts were finally able to beat the same. A moment passed, slowly, turning their reality into an eternity. Until the pinch setter spoke.

"Hey...Tsukki. Look."

Tsukishima glanced up to see Yamaguchi gesturing to the water lazily with his index finger.

A clear smile bled into his tone. "It's like we're swimming in the sky."

And he was right. The water that lapped gently at their bodies was a perfect mirror of the clear, star-filled countryside sky above. It was as if they were dipping into space itself. And at some point the fountain had turned off, leaving them in a steamy silence punctuated only by their soft breathing.

Tsukishima simply hummed in reply.

"Hey. Tsukki," Yamaguchi prompted again, but this time softer. And he looked up, eyes reflecting a thousand glimmering stars. A perfect little galaxy in two round orbs.

"What?" Tsukishima replied, bumping their foreheads together.

"I love you," Yamaguchi whispered with a sweet smile as he closed the distance between them to gently press their lips together. And they melted into one another as only the most passionate lovers could do, the kind of people who know every single thing there is to know about their partner, the sort that aren’t learning alone but together. That was their connection. It was conscious, unconscious, and everything in between. It was everything they had always wanted and ever needed.

So the night drew to a close with two lovestruck teenagers sharing careful lip locks and grins filled with childlike wonder in a moonlit sea of endless stars.


End file.
